STUDY GROUPS

The Alchemy of Human Happiness
Weekly on Saturdays (USA)
19:00–20:30 CDT online via Zoom
Weekly on Sundays (Australia)
10:00–11:30 AEST online via Zoom
An opportunity to study and explore a recent translation of a seminal work of Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi from his famous Meccan Illuminations (al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya).
How to Book
Please note: this study group is timed for participants in the Pacific Rim.
Space is limited.
Participation is free but you will be required to buy the book, which is available here and on Amazon in physical and digital formats.
Contact: Mary Boyd-Brent, mboydb3.11@gmail.com
Course Description
From the publisher’s website:
“In this first English translation of chapter 167 from the famous Meccan Illuminations (al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya), Ibn ‘Arabi comprehensively summarises all his major teachings on human perfectibility and true happiness. Using the imagery of alchemy and ascension, he gives the reader an extraordinary insight into the spiritual journey by contrasting two ways of acquiring knowledge: the rational and the mystical.”
“The quest for happiness and fulfilment lies at the very heart of human life, but for Ibn ‘Arabi there is a realm beyond our ordinary understanding of happiness, where the human stands truly fulfilled, in vision of Reality. This is a goal within the potential of every person.”
A video of the translator Stephen Hirtenstein talking about the work is available here.
MORE COURSES
Aspects of Science, Imagination and the Mystical
Saturday 14th June 2025
14:00–17:00 BST
The October Gallery, London
With Peter Coates
This talk will consider the vital role of the Creative Imagination in Natural Science and in the Mystical Philosophy of Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi.
Contact: Michael Cohen london@beshara.org
Paradise E’Now or The Smile of the Spirit
Saturday 24th May 2025
14:00–17:00 BST
The October Gallery, London
With Charles Mugleston
A special Birthday Celebration with music, exploring, experiencing & soulfully enjoying the Ruba’iya’t of Hakim Omar Khayya’m translated & adapted by the Anglo-Irish genius Edward FitzGerald of Woodbridge, Suffolk into “English Music” in 1859.
Contact: Michael Cohen london@beshara.org
Open Meetings
Saturday 22nd March, 2025
9:00am–10:00am GMT
Inspired by the turn out at the recent open meetings, we are pleased to invite you to our next online Open Meeting. This meeting will give priority to our friends in Australia and the Asia Pacific before we open up the space to continue the conversation with everyone else.
Mirrors of the Transcendent in the Cosmos of Ibn Arabi: The Body as Metaphor of Divine Self-Revelation
25th-26th July 2025
The Warburg Institute, University of London
A joint symposium held by the Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi Society and The Warburg Institute.
More details: https://ibnarabisociety.org/events/
Booking: https://warburg.sas.ac.uk/events/cosmos-of-ibn-arabi-2025
Know Yourself
Saturday 26th April 2025
14:00–17:00 BST
The October Gallery, London
You yourself are the object of your quest
Reading and discussion of a classic explanation of the Oneness of Being, attributed to Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi and Awhad al-din Balyani and translated from the Arabic by Cecilia Twinch.
Contact: Michael Cohen, london@beshara.org
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